Aza and Squirt were playing some sort of two-player computer game and were having a good time. It was so nice to see them "playing" together at their ages.
Squirt is a COLLEGE GRADUATE!!!! He graduated Phi Kappa Phi, Summa Cum Laude with a bachelors in Computer Science. From left to right:
Grandpa, Grandma, Dan, Me, Squirt, Aza, Jes, and Aunt Sakura.
A great time was had by all. We got the VIP seats on the ground floor and had a great view. The speaker was Chris Moody from Twitter and it was a really great speech. #chrismoodycom
We flew from New Jersey to Atlanta today. It was horrible. First, the plan was delayed from 1:00 - 6:30. Then we did not board the plane until 8:00. We did not take off until 10:00pm. It was 'fun' sitting on the runway for 2 hours. We landed in ATL at around midnight and got home around 2:00. Oh, what fun.
I made this stuff. With this house and these buttons I realized that I have mastered the necessary skills to really enjoy this craft. So, I decided today to enroll for another 10-session course!
Tonight in pottery class, I found my flow. All time stopped as I worked on collaring vases, trimming mugs, and assembling a lamp. Also, I got this stuff out of the kiln and love how it all turned out.
Birthday celebration today... good food and lots of fun conversation, especially about the smell of the flowers behind the cake. I want to remember that. It was funny.
Today Dan and I walked around Baltimore and came across this Holocaust Memorial. It was appropriate since my grandparents met here in Baltimore, and my mother was born here, and if my grandfather's parents had not left Eastern Europe, I would not be looking at this memorial. Also, I recently found three of my grandfather's first cousins who were killed in the Holocaust. Here are their names so that if anyone Googles them, they can see their pictures here and contact me. The picture has "Libau 17 Januari 1931" written on the back. I think the woman in the picture is Abram's wife, "Sophia Stern Magidson". On the left is "David Magidson" then in the middle "Moses Magidson." They were living in Libau/Liepaja Latvia in 1941 when the Nazis invaded. Their father had several names (Russian, Latvian, Hebrew, etc) " But where was Hirsch?
One of the good things about being in Baltimore is seeing my sister Sta and my niece. Here we are at dinner trying to polish off a Smith Island 8 layer cake. I did my share!
We are in Baltimore for NARST this week. Baltimore has a lot of cultural offerings, and Dan got to experience them all. I attended a lot of sessions, and lead some meetings... and caught up with some friends.
We are in Highlands, NC for the weekend. We hiked a mountain and I felt strong-- not winded-- strong the whole way to the top. Walking every day for 2.5 months has really made a difference in my stamina and heart health.
Today I switched notebooks and couldn't bear to dismiss my doodles, so I photographed them. My work researching my ancestors continues and yields new discoveries every day.
My students at the rural high school spinning wool into yarn.
This week I found my cousin Nancy, the professor and author, who lives in Massachusetts. Going back in my genealogy resulted in finding her. Joy oh joy!